Brandão goal helps Saint-Étienne maintain European hopes

Saint-Étienne added pressure on the four sides above them in the Ligue 1 table with a convincing 3-0 away win over Nancy, taking their recent run to seven league games unbeaten.

Brazilian striker Brandão was once more on the scoresheet for Les Verts, opening the scoring after just 17 minutes, before Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added two more later on.

With their run of form, Saint-Étienne have moved to within just four points of second-placed Lyon and will have high hopes of securing a place in continental competition for the 2013-14 season.

"We were efficient. We converted our chances. That's how we made the match easy for us," defender Francois Clerc told reporters. "We know that if we want to finish in the top spots, we'll have to be consistent and rack up a lot of points."

The goal was Brandão's fourth in his last five league starts for the club, whom he joined from Marseille last summer. The Brazilian target-man now has seven league goals to his name this season.